‘Climate Change Minister Asking For Ballot Papers Is Truly Ironic’: Milind Deora Mocks Aaditya Thackeray After Latter’s Win From Worli With Wafer-Thin Margin | File images
Shiv Sena candidate and former Union minister Milind Deora mocked Uddhav Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray after he won the Worli constituency with a wafer-thin margin on Saturday. According to the data on the ECI’s website, Aaditya secured victory in Worli by just 8,801 votes, receiving a total of 63,324 votes. In the 2019 Assembly elections, Aaditya had won from the same constituency with a margin of over 67,427 votes.
In a post on X, Deora wrote, “I took on UBT’s strongest team in #Worli—1 ex-CM, 1 ex-Cabinet Minister, 1 ex-Union Minister, 1 MP, 1 MLA, 2 MLCs & 3 ex-Mayors. Despite MNS splitting 19,367 of Mahayuti’s votes, we led at one point & cut @AUThackeray’s margin to 8,801 from 67,427 in 2019.‘Climate Change Minister’ asking for ballot papers is truly ironic!”
Thackeray, in a press conference, raised questions over EVMs after MVA’s dismal performance in the elections. He said he didn’t know if people voted or EVMs voted. He said the alliance performed well in LS elections and they need to see what changed since then.
Aaditya has retained his Worli seat defeating Deora and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate Sandip Deshpande.
Worli’s triangular contest
Aaditya was locked in a triangular contest as both Shiv Sena and MNS made efforts to defeat him flagging his lack of performance as the legislator during 2019 and 2024.
For Aaditya, it is a crucial win as during the Lok Sabha election the lead from Worli to Shiv Sena nominee Arvind Sawant was just 6,000 votes. Therefore, Shiv Sena and MNS thought it would be an opportunity to corner Aaditya on his home pitch. However, both failed to checkmate him as Aaditya won with a comfortable margin.
Reasons for Aaditya’s win
The Worli Assembly has a sizable Marathi-speaking population apart from Dalits, Muslims, and people from North Maharashtra. Aaditya relied on the Marathi Manoos appealing to them to vote for him to further increase the pace of development in Worli which has become a new centre for residential and commercial complexes. The constituency also houses the police personnel and currently, the redevelopment of BDD chawls is underway. The redevelopment was launched during the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi and it is in progress.
Aaditya urged the voters that he would make all efforts to complete the redevelopment of BDD chawls without delays and time escalation.
The Worli area is known as Shiv Sena’s stronghold. Shiv Sena corporators were elected from all the wards of Worli division in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls. Despite a split in the Shiv Sena in June 2022, the traditional Shiv Sainiks remained with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and worked hard for Aaditya’s victory.
On its part, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s move to field a non-Marathi candidate seems to have gone against it. Although Milind Deora is a known face as he was elected to Lok Sabha from south Mumbai, he could not succeed in appealing the Marathi Manoos despite Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reiterating that his party is a real Shiv Sena which is working on the thoughts of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray and it is committed to protect the interests of the Marathi Manoos.
Similarly, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS attempted to lure the Marathi Manoos to checkmate Aaditya but failed to create magic. Raj Thackeray’s appeals for change failed to get a positive response from the voters.
